Category: Entertainment

Fusion’s Todd Crocker has twice impressed me with on-water demonstrations of the company’s premium Signature sound system, first at the Miami Show (above) and again during the NMEA Conference. I’m not sure why it took me so long to write about what I heard, but maybe it’s because the sound quality was so good it hurt! Not my ears, but the fact that no stereo in my life — boat, car, home, or portable — comes close. Fusion has also introduced new products for more modest budgets and seems intent on conquering all corners of marine audio. But then again, competitors like Clarion are definitely stepping up their game…

Being able to use your helm’s bright waterproof color screen to run your stereo system has to be one of the most appreciated benefits of multifunction display evolution and the NMEA 2000 network standard. Typically the stereo head unit is installed in the boat’s living area while one or more MFDs serve as remote controls in the cockpit, on the flybridge, etc. The interface can be a simple mute/volume/next menu bar leaving ample screen room for navigation or a screen window with more controls and info. Usually, you can also go full screen to easily browse a phone or iPod full of music, or access the stereo’s deeper settings better than you can on the head unit. And it costs next to nothing!…

The ability of Fusion marine stereo systems to integrate with multifunction displays over NMEA 2000 (or Ethernet) is a wonderful example of what MFDs and standard network protocols can do for us. One day last summer a Garmin software update suddenly made the GPSMap 7212 already installed on Gizmo’s fly bridge the best interface I had for the Fusion IP700 stereo installed below. And, mind you, I already a Fusion NRX remote control up there and also had the Fusion Remote apps running on iPad and smartphone via Gizmo’s WiFi router. There was a notable glitch, which I’ll describe, but that’s long past and now Fusion-Link has arrived beautifully in the Garmin 740 and 8000 Series MFDs seen above.